Josephina Kalleo

Josephina Kalleo (1920 – 1993) was an Inuk visual artist from Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador, known for her colorful drawings of traditional Inuit life and for her book Taipsumane: A Collection of Labrador Stories.

Biography Kalleo was born in Nain in 1920, and educated at the Moravian Mission there. She began drawing in her sixties, after raising five children. Using felt-tip markers, she drew vibrant, detailed scenes of Labrador Inuit life, documenting activities such as hunting and fishing, berry picking, marriage, and Christmas preparations. Taipsumane is an Inuktitut word meaning "Them Days," and the book includes Kalleo's descriptions of her childhood life in the 1920s and 30s. With titles such as Festive Dress, Traditional Foods, The Spring Camp, Unequal Trading, and Women as Trappers, the carefully labelled drawings illustrate traditional ways of gathering food and seasonal activities. Reviewer Roberta Buchanan noted that "Kalleo's vision is essentially elegiac, mourning for a past way of life and past values." A 2018 Globe and Mail article notes that "These drawings, along with the oral history she recorded for each image, are considered one of the best descriptions of transitional Labrador Inuit life during the mid-20th century."